New York City Transit Authority v. Transport Workers Union of America

The New York City Transit Authority (authority) (plaintiff), which managed New York City’s subway system, sought to fire an employee for allegedly assaulting someone on a subway platform. Pursuant to the collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) between the authority and the Transport Workers Union of America (union) (defendant), the matter was submitted to arbitration. The CBA provided that if an arbitrator confirmed that an employee committed assault, the authority’s penalty had to be affirmed unless the arbitrator determined that the penalty was excessive in light of the employee’s record and the penalties meted out in similar cases. The union did not submit any punishment precedents to the arbitrator; the authority did submit precedents, which the arbitrator distinguished. The arbitrator ultimately ruled that termination of the employee was clearly excessive in light of precedent. The authority challenged the arbitrator’s decision, arguing that the arbitrator exceeded his power because the arbitrator had no precedent in similar cases to rely on due to the lack of any union submission and his rejection of the authority’s precedent. The supreme court ruled that the arbitrator exceeded his authority and vacated the award pursuant to Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR) § 7511(b)(1)(iii). The appellate division affirmed. The union appealed.